Thanks to everyone who has taken part in the action to date, collectivism works, perhaps not always immediately, but it works! The strike days and ASOS have served to raise the profile of our dispute and have enabled UNISON to engage with both Parliamentarians and the public, in promoting the value of what we do and why we should get fair pay in return.

The fight for our #EAFairPay campaign continues as we seek to get a fair deal for our workers and demonstrate the value of what we do. Remember – the money is there and workers up and down the country are settling for much more than the poultry 2% we’ve been offered, see settlements in both public and private sector below:

• Fire Brigade (12%) – 7% backdated for 22_23 + 5% for 23_24
• Railworkers – Back at the table, action suspended with improved offer
• Scottish teachers – 14% over 2 years – 7% backdated + 5% + 2%
• Rolls Royce – 17.6%
• Local Government – An average 8%
• Luton Airport workers – 28%
• ENVIRONMENT AGENCY – 2% – AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PILE

So we must continue to fight to ensure we get what we deserve. After talking to members and branches around the country, we have reflected their views that an increased period of Action Short of Strike (ASOS), removal from out of hours incident response our next stage. Please show your full support again for the action as set out below.

Following meetings of the UNISON Environment Agency Sector Committee to discuss what action is required to further pursue a resolution to the dispute, the decision has been made to begin escalating action in the form of a call for members to not participate in voluntary out-of-hours incident response rosters over the following periods:

• From 7pm on Friday 17th March, to 7am on Monday 20th March
• From 7pm on Friday 24th March, to 7am on Monday 27th March

Prospect have also called on their Environment Agency members to take similar action, but across different times and dates.

Points to note:

#1 – UNISON members can claim strike pay for earnings lost in coming off rostas (please talk to your branch reps about how to claim if you haven’t had the information, full details have been circulated to Thames UNISON members).

#2 – Check our FAQs & branch reps if unsure whether you can take part in ASOS due to your contract.

The latest edition of the UNISON Environment Agency Pay Campaign Bulletin has more information, so as always please read through it in full. This latest bulletin can be downloaded here and via the links below.

As well as this, the next in the series of regular pay campaign webinars has been scheduled, and details of this and the link to register can be found below and in the bulletin itself. The UNISON Environment Agency pay campaign webpage and associated FAQs is also being updated ahead of this action, so make sure to visit the webpage over the coming days for the latest information.

Register for the webinar (16 March)

UNISON EA Pay Campaign Webpage and FAQ

In solidarity.